L’idea di viaggio in Mori Ōgai come forma di umanesimo

Mori Ōgai (1862-1922) was one of the first Japanese writers, intellectual and scientist to understand how a travel in another country was important for his own cultural growth and for the development of Japan. For him travel was pivotal in order to know foreign artistic and literary perspectives, and at the same time it was a valuable chance to deepen the knowledge of his own traditions. In this sense, we can say that he had a humanistic attitude towards travel, considering it a possibility to pay respect for European classic cultures and for Japanese classics as well. His German Trilogy (Doitsu sanbusaku) or his German Diary (Doitsu nikki) are the most famous examples of this attitude I think we can call humanism. Actually, in many other novels and essays he quoted European literature, art, opera he experimented abroad. He made use of his travel experiences also to compare scientific progress in fields like food, education, public spaces as theatres, houses. Through his artistic activities and his ideas as doctor and citizen, it is possible to reflect on his way to live a travel, inside and outside Japan, and his different strategies to communicate results and feelings to family, friends, intellectuals, up to reach powerfully us, his contemporary readers.